Interview with Darcy Paul- Cupertino City Council Elections

Interview with Darcy Paul
By Bryan Zhang, Contributor

My second interview was with Mr. Darcy Paul, a Patent Attorney who came to Cupertino in 2005. Darcy came in 2005 to take a job at a patent litigation firm. In 2007, Darcy was appointed to the Parks and Recreation commission and has now decided to run for City Council.

BZ: Given that you are relatively new to Cupertino, why would you think you are the best fit for the City Council?

DP: I think what makes me qualified to serve the council is that I am committed, concerned, and have gotten involved in the city to the extent where I have actually approached it and thought how I can best serve this community. I actually planned to run two years ago but I talked to several of the community leaders and a common consensus was that it was a little premature given I had only lived in Cupertino for two years. So they recommended rather than a run outright, to get involved on the commission level so I applied to the Parks and Recreation commission.

BZ: Do you think diversity is a problem here in Cupertino?

DP: I wouldn’t characterize it as a problem. If you approach it in a thoughtful manner and honest way, it’s something that ultimately strengthens the community. Where we get in trouble is often times we have underlying prejudices and concerns about other groups and they just go unspoken. As members of the community, we need to take steps to be understanding to groups in the community and also make our own groups history and values known to others.

BZ: Would you ever support encouraging other minority groups to move to Cupertino?

DP: I don’t think minority groups need encouraging to move to Cupertino. I would like to see a little more socioeconomically diversity in the city. I wouldn’t necessarily go out and target specific minority groups but I would try to foster an attitude of inclusion in the community.

BZ: Do you think it is a problem that Cupertino does not have a downtown area?

DP: Well, I think that is a gap in our city offerings right now. What we are doing as a city to try and develop a downtown area is to develop the 17 acres west of Wolfe and North of Stevens Creek. The concept is that this area will emerge as our de facto downtown area where people can meet and enjoy a cup of coffee. We need to think about providing a good pedestrian connection between Vallco and the proposed main street area. It’s important to preserve the safety and concerns of residents in the area.

BZ: Would you ever support adding new stores and businesses to the Vallco/Cupertino Square area?

DP: I would actually support a pretty drastic change in the Cupertino Square space. I think for the future of the city, it makes the most sense to rethink the existing structures entirely. It wouldn’t be a physically easy task to undertake, but it wouldn’t be impossible to rethink the existing structures, especially since the buildings have increasingly fallen into ineptitude. I do not believe it is being used in an optimal manner.

BZ: Large businesses play a large role in the local economy but there are many small businesses as well. How would you balance the needs of each?

DP: What affects the small businesses is having a sufficient consumer base. We have a lot of empty office space in the city and we need to occupy those spaces in order to help the smaller businesses. But I don’t think there’s any type of conflict between large and small businesses.

BZ: Any specific ideas on helping out the smaller businesses?

DP: I would support an annual guide that would be updated on a semi-annual basis. People can see the types of shops and services available. We can make it available on the web and widely disseminate the URL. I would also like to see an improvement in the city’s transportation. I would like to see a city wide shuttle that would get people from point to point in an efficient manner.

BZ: Would you ever support a Wal-Mart or Costco in Cupertino?

DP: A Wal-Mart or Costco would probably not set up shop here in the first place because there’s a lack of overhead here. I also do not believe Cupertino needs a Wal-Mart or Costco and I would not take steps to welcome a Wal-Mart or Costco.

BZ: Great, thank you for taking this interview at Bonjour Crepe.

DP: Thank you for having me.

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Posted by admin on Oct 19th, 2009 and filed under Events, Local News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response by filling following comment form or trackback to this entry from your site